Pecotic wins BOV Masters title at Marsa

Matija Pecotic is the winner of the BOV Malta Men’s Masters Singles title for 2012 following his 6-1 6-1 victory over Bradley Callus in the final.

The event was the last men’s tournament of the Malta Tennis Federation’s calendar for the year and was played at the Marsa Sports Club.

The tournament is a technical assessment of national players in preparation for the team’s international commitments the following year. The tournament featured Malta’s top eight players.

Pecotic was a dominant presence in the tournament, having won all his matches in straight sets through to the final.

Vanessa Macdonald, Head Media and Community Relations at Bank of Valletta, and David Farrugia Sacco, president of the Malta Tennis Federation, presented the trophies to the winners.

Farrugia Sacco said: “We take this opportunity to congratulate Matija on his victory. This invitation-only tournament has become a milestone in the local tennis calendar and we thank BOV for their continuous support of this sport.”

The tournament is played in two round robin groups, with the top-placed in each group playing off in the semi-finals against the second-placed.

The final standings for the two groups were as follows:

Group One – Matija Pecotic, Bradley Callus, Omar Sudzuka, Matthew Cassar Torregiani.

Group Two – Denzil Agius, Raphael Sammut, Mark Gatt, Mark Schranz.

The more experienced Pecotic won his semi-final in straight sets against the much younger Sammut, while the other semi-final saw Callus beating Agius after winning both sets in a keenly-fought tie.

Notably missing from the tournament was the no.1 ranked Matthew Asciak, who was away from the island on other professional commitments, and the upcoming Bernard Cassar Torregiani. He is studying in the UK.

Sudzuka, on his part, was making a welcome return after a long break from the game due to injury.

In line with its strategy of bringing together experience and younger talent, the federation also had Matthew Cassar Torregiani and Schranz in the tournament for the first time.

Both showed some promising play, at times challenging the more experienced players in the competition.